Eric Radford and Vanessa James to compete in pairs together for Canada

[Frau Muller]

Zhang was older, Zoe Jones too. Obviously that doesn’t mean that Radford has to be like them, but it is not impossible.

The Protopopovs…both well into their 30s by 1968!

 

[hanca]

The Protopopovs…both well into their 30s by 1968!

Yes but at their rime the technical difficulty expected from top pairs was much lower, so one could argue their bodies would be less damaged in their thirties. I think we need to compare it with the current skaters.

 

[Spun Silver]

Hongbo Zhao won the OGM at 37 in 2010.

 

[wickedwitch]

I was going to say exactly the same thing - pairs taking three seasons to gel as a partnership is generally the norm. Savchenko/Massot are definitely not the norm and watching back four years later with none of the emotion you can see in the programmes that he is still the weaker skater and he never quite fixed his posture.

Do they? Of all the eventually great pairs teams that paired up at slightly older ages, they all gelled very quickly. Savchenko/Massot is not the exception. Volosozhar/Trankov were already mentioned. Sale/Pelletier were GP medalists right from the start. Even Kneirim/Frazier took less time. I'd say one to two seasons to become a top team is more typical.

Furthermore, I don't think their issues are with geling. Eric's back issues that have given them difficulties with lift aren't going to get better with time.

 

[antmanb]

Do they? Of all the eventually great pairs teams that paired up at slightly older ages, they all gelled very quickly. Savchenko/Massot is not the exception. Volosozhar/Trankov were already mentioned. Sale/Pelletier were GP medalists right from the start. Even Kneirim/Frazier took less time. I'd say one to two seasons to become a top team is more typical.

All the teams you mentioned bar Knierim/Frazer won Olympic gold in their pairings after a short time of being together, i would definitely say they are the exception to the rule and the fact they were talented enough to win the gold is what sets them apart from any other pairs team getting together. Knierim/Frazer had a great Olympic individual event but they still don't look like a gelled pair to me, mostly because his basic skating and lines are not on a par with hers - it's those kinds of things that take the time.

 

[Taso]

Hongbo Zhao won the OGM at 37 in 2010.

36, he was born September 22, 1973

 

[soogar]

Yes their twist was one of their better elements. Maybe better than he had with Meagan? Still nowhere near the spectacular ones that Savchenko/Massot or Volodozhar/Trankov got straight from the get go. But at least it's not awful like the one KMT/Marinaro have.

It's their extremely slow skating, the very awkward ugly lifts and her jumping that were hard to watch

There is a huge height difference between Savchenko/Massot. Eric has a better twist with Vanessa but their look on ice is completely different. I get why Meaghan is upset that Eric decided to partner with another skater, but she is pregnant again. Her priorities have completely changed. Eric has something different with Vanessa. Different chemistry and different style and their look works great for show skating. Their going to the Olympics seems to be more for exposure and perhaps a team event medal than being a top pair team.

There has been way more acrimonious break ups in pairs than Meaghan and Eric's. She's moved on and had a family and she's still publicly chiding him for skating with another partner. She sounds petty. I'm also tired of the cancel culture surrounding Vanessa and Morgan. They have skated together for years and the fact that she supported him and didn't publicly condemn him doesn't mean that she approves of his behavior.

 

[Sylvia]

I get why Meaghan is upset that Eric decided to partner with another skater, but she is pregnant again.

So? One is not related to the other.

There has been way more acrimonious break ups in pairs than Meaghan and Eric's. She's moved on and had a family and she's still publicly chiding him for skating with another partner. She sounds petty.

I haven't seen Meagan "publicly chiding him" anywhere lately? I assume she remained professional during her CBC commentary during the Olympics?

 

[skatingguy]

I haven't seen Meagan "publicly chiding him" anywhere lately? I assume she remained professional during her CBC commentary during the Olympics?

She did - she voiced her disagreement with the Skate Canada decision on the Olympic team, and how that selection was done, but she was not alone in that criticism.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Plus Julie Marcotte has bad taste in music and insists on creating bland heteronormative pairs programs.

Well since you brought it up I guess I will comment. I have never cared for any of her programs and I was so happy when Alexa and Chris went to Alyona because that meant no more Julie programs. Their very basic programs with no choreography or transitions if you ask me.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

36, he was born September 22, 1973

VIRGO POWER!!!

All the Virgos up in here raise your hand

 

[coppertop1]

Pairs skating has a major problem with toxic male entitlement. Morgan was a sexual predator. Vanessa continued to follow him on social media. Eric went behind Meagan's back to skate with Vanessa. Meagan wasn't planning to have more children at the time and even if she was. He still should have talked to her out of common courtesy. But of course women are always expected to take the high road . She has been very professional as a commentator. She's not constantly tweeting about Eric.

Eric stepped on a lot of people to get to Beijing. Not just Meagan, he mentored Walsh/Michaud.

 

[soogar]

So? One is not related to the other.

I haven't seen Meagan "publicly chiding him" anywhere lately? I assume she remained professional during her CBC commentary during the Olympics?

Eric responded that he ended the partnership because Meaghan was focused on her family. Meaghan just recently tweeted how Bukin being a father did not hamper his competitive career. People can look it up on twitter, but she said something to the effect that 'here are to the parents who compete'. Meaghan said that Eric never asked her to compete again and she was upset that he would bring up her being a mom. Meaghan may not say anything publicly in her commentary, however she is still tweeting about this.

Eric found that he liked skating with Vanessa and maybe he wanted to try a different partnership. My impression of Meaghan is that she is really competitive and maybe he DOESN'T want to be with a competitive partner at this stage of his career. Vanessa seems more laid back and they are doing things that feel right for their bodies.

The reality is that Meaghan has a young child at home, and it doesn't seem like they live near one another. There has to be a lot of accommodation to make that partnership work. Maybe she was willing to make it work, however Eric didn't. She seems really happy with her family. She even found another partner to skate with and it doesn't seem that they are limited to the fact that she has not titles with that partner. They both have enough name recognition to receive invites to tours, as does Vanessa.

 

[skategal]

She did - she voiced her disagreement with the Skate Canada decision on the Olympic team, and how that selection was done, but she was not alone in that criticism.

She was actually very complimentary to Eric and Vanessa in her commentary.

Kurt was more the one who was commenting on their short-comings and errors.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Kurt was more the one who was commenting on their short-comings and errors.

I mean they’ve only been together since the last time I put gas in my truck.

I expect them to have errors and shortcomings

Don’t get me started on Browning

 

[Prancer]

I'm also tired of the cancel culture surrounding Vanessa and Morgan.

What does "cancel culture" mean in this context?

 

[soogar]

Pairs skating has a major problem with toxic male entitlement. Morgan was a sexual predator. Vanessa continued to follow him on social media. Eric went behind Meagan's back to skate with Vanessa. Meagan wasn't planning to have more children at the time and even if she was. He still should have talked to her out of common courtesy. But of course women are always expected to take the high road . She has been very professional as a commentator. She's not constantly tweeting about Eric.

Eric stepped on a lot of people to get to Beijing. Not just Meagan, he mentored Walsh/Michaud.

Not everyone runs to change their status as soon as bad things happen. He still lost a lot of time with Meaghan due to her first pregnancy and Covid. After several years of not really skating together, how much does he really owe her? They've earned all the important medals together and he didn't ditch her during their competitive career.

In fact, looking at her response, he probably avoided talking to her because he didn't want to deal with confrontation. I don't know Meaghan but she is very blunt and in your face. If he already decided to skate with someone else, there's nothing she would have said to change his mind. And he probably didn't want to deal with an explosion either.

She's not really taking a high road complaining on twitter and TSL and liking every negative tweet.

As for him mentoring another team, that doesn't mean he can't get back into the game. Alyona worked with the Knierems and it didnt' work out. No one was attacking Aliona for not liking coaching.

 

[skategal]

I mean they’ve only been together since the last time I put gas in my truck.

I expect them to have errors and shortcomings

Don’t get me started on Browning

It wasn’t too bad.

He was mostly pointing out the obvious errors (falls, step outs, under rotations etc) while Meagan was saying “Good for them, They should be so proud etc.”

 

[soogar]

What does "cancel culture" mean in this context?

Cancel culture is people conflating Morgan's actions with Vanessa and claiming she should have behaved a certain way when no one has experience on how to behave in such a situation. Cancel culture is going on the internet and hating J&R and talking about Vanessa being an enabler. People can have whatever view they want to about Morgan, but until there is someone in your family who has committed a crime, you would never know how people would respond. People still support their close friends, even if they had done something wrong.

 

[skatfan]

She did - she voiced her disagreement with the Skate Canada decision on the Olympic team, and how that selection was done, but she was not alone in that criticism.

That’s not chiding him for pairing up with Vanessa - that decision for the Olympics is on Skate Canada.

Meagan seems over Eric’s botched communications and I think we could possibly move on too.

 

[thvu]

I haven't seen Meagan "publicly chiding him" anywhere lately? I assume she remained professional during her CBC commentary during the Olympics?

You should look at her Twitter likes.

 

[Prancer]

Cancel culture is people conflating Morgan's actions with Vanessa and claiming she should have behaved a certain way when no one has experience on how to behave in such a situation. Cancel culture is going on the internet and hating J&R and talking about Vanessa being an enabler. People can have whatever view they want to about Morgan, but until there is someone in your family who has committed a crime, you would never know how people would respond. People still support their close friends, even if they had done something wrong.

Okay. I do not understand the term "cancel culture" and still don't after reading your post. People have always had opinions about how other people should behave and have expressed those opinions.

I don't see how that "cancels" anything, nor how it is some sort of culture.

I do, however, see you expressing opinions on social media about how other people should behave, so.....are you engaging in cancel culture? If not, what is the difference?

 

[Sylvia]

You should look at her Twitter likes.

No thanks - I consider that a figure skating Twitter "cancel culture" thing and prefer to focus on the positive aspects of skating when I'm on Twitter.

People still support their close friends, even if they had done something wrong.

I agree with this.

 

[skylark]

I loved Vanessa but she was really flukey before moving to Florida. With the Sounds of Silence program they took a giant leap forward. It might be too late for another transformation but then look what happened to Ryuichi.

That's a good reminder. And .... What if Vanessa/Eric could have John Zimmerman as a coach? He's imaginative. He sees ways to optimize his pairs and highlight their qualities that other coaches don't. (In their last season together, I recall Meagan and Eric worked with Zimmerman because they felt they needed a "new pair of eyes" on them.) Maybe it's Julie M. who is holding Vanessa/Eric back, by dirgy music and lack of complexity in choreography. Eric always had a classical style with lyrical presentation, but it just didn't work or get optimally expressed with Meagan, who wanted to do elements and count up points during the programs. (I love her fair and positive commentary, and I don't follow anyone's 'likes' on Twitter.) Their lines and similar style of movement are what got me excited about J/R when they first paired up.

And yes. It's always good to be reminded about Ryuichi. He finally teamed with the right partner for him. The result seems like a miracle, and I'm not even talking about competitive results. He and Riku have pairs magic.

 

[PRlady]

Uh, no. The minute Vanessa was back in Florida she would probably be deposed in a lawsuit against Cipres and the rink. And Zimmerman is complicit in all that. Just no.

 

[skatfan]

That's a good reminder. And .... What if Vanessa/Eric could have John Zimmerman as a coach? He's imaginative. He sees ways to optimize his pairs and highlight their qualities that other coaches don't. (In their last season together, I recall Meagan and Eric worked with Zimmerman because they felt they needed a "new pair of eyes" on them.)

Zimmerman has kept a very low profile in the wake of Cipres’ sexual abuse allegations. He (Zimmerman) was cleared by safe sport, but it would raise a whole lot of hackles if he coached this pair.

Instead I think they should ask Charlie White to do a program for them -he consulted with James/Cipres on a couple of their programs as I recall.

 

[thvu]

No thanks - I consider that a figure skating Twitter "cancel culture" thing and prefer to focus on the positive aspects of skating when I'm on Twitter.

Which is your right, but the her likes are public, and the tweets are chiding Eric Radford. The information exists, and Duhamel is communicating an opinion, whether you want to read it or not.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

That's a good reminder. And .... What if Vanessa/Eric could have John Zimmerman as a coach? He's imaginative. He sees ways to optimize his pairs and highlight their qualities that other coaches don't. (In their last season together, I recall Meagan and Eric worked with Zimmerman because they felt they needed a "new pair of eyes" on them.) Maybe it's Julie M. who is holding Vanessa/Eric back, by dirgy music and lack of complexity in choreography. Eric always had a classical style with lyrical presentation, but it just didn't work or get optimally expressed with Meagan, who wanted to do elements and count up points during the programs. (I love her fair and positive commentary, and I don't follow anyone's 'likes' on Twitter.) Their lines and similar style of movement are what got me excited about J/R when they first paired up.

And yes. It's always good to be reminded about Ryuichi. He finally teamed with the right partner for him. The result seems like a miracle, and I'm not even talking about competitive results. He and Riku have pairs magic.

Zimmerman?

 

[antmanb]

Which is your right, but the her likes are public, and the tweets are chiding Eric Radford. The information exists, and Duhamel is communicating an opinion, whether you want to read it or not.

But that would mean that liking a tweet is the same as if you said it yourself, which it isn't, re-tweeting is probably a lot closer but still isn't exactly saying it yourself.

 

[Lemonade20]

Liking or retweeting means you agree with it. Meghan was very upset and couldn't hold back. They should have sat down and had a heart to heart conversation. It wasn't in the cards for Duhamel to return to compete (especially now that she's pregnant again).